STAR WARS™ Jedi Knight - Jedi Academy™

The good: Everything regarding the gameplay of Jedi Outcast has been improved, especially the lightsaber combat. There are many new enemy types that offer unique challenges in combat. Though I wish I was still playing as Kyle Katarn, they actually nailed his character and gave him significant depth. I thought it was quite clever how this game finds natural ways to revisit locations, creatures, and characters from the original movies. The bad: There were some technical issues. For some reason sometimes a new cutscene or quickload would make the whole screen go white, and I'd have to restart the game. The FOV is also too low for me and editing the files didn't work. This game suffers from the strangely specific shortcoming of its predecessor: The penultimate level drags on for a little too long. While the improved lightsaber combat is welcomed, the later stages of the game just keep throwing lightsaber-wielding maniacs at you and it gets a bit tiring. The level design isn't terrible this time but it still could be improved. I did not care for the mission selection. I would much rather that all of these levels be strung together in a continous story. The level descriptions can be misleading and never offer any indication as to what I'll be doing. I may be defusing bombs, planting bombs, escaping a prison, or riding a speeder, but the description won't tell me that. So why even give me the choice? The main character has zero personality, probably because they're a customizable protagonist who may sway light or dark depending on our choices.. Also, am I alone in thinking it's very strange to send Jedi trainees out to different planets for dangerous missions? That seems reckless even for the likes of Luke. But at the end of the day, the story of an FPS is just an elaborate excuse for you to feel like a badass. This game just hides it less. An enjoyable experience overall!